E-levy: Engagement with MPs started before break – Egyapa Mercer

Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has revealed that engagements with the Minority on the E-levy started before Parliament went on a break last year.

He told Roland Walker on the News 360 on TV3 Monday, January 24 that the Ministry of Finance is expected to continue the engagements with the Minority and Civil Society organizations this week to allow for a consideration of the policy.

His comments come after the Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Jinapor said the opposition lawmakers had not been engaged on the proposal by the Majority on the proposal.

Mr. Jinapor told Tv3’s William Evans Nkum on the sidelines of a town hall meeting held by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kumasi on Monday that “They haven’t engaged us, you can ask them, who have they engaged?

“Have they engaged the leader, have they engaged the chief whip? Have they engaged the party? You cannot build consensus alone, you build consensus with people. I can confirm the Majority side has not engaged members of the Minority.”

The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu also said on the New Day show on TV3 Tuesday, January 25 that he had not been engaged.

“I have not been engaged,” he told Johnnie Hughes.

But Mr. Egyapa Mercer who is also a Deputy Minister of Energy said “I do not know what the MP for Yapei Kusawgu means when he says that there has been no engagement, You recall that before Parliament went on break there were attempts at trying to build consensus between the two blocks.

“Following the break-in Parliament, every Member of Parliament especially those in the Minority left for their constituencies and so how anybody expects that in that period when people were on break from parliamentary session some engagements were going to take place that baffles me because it is only when you are in session when you are in Accra that the engagement can take place.

“It is my understanding that the Ministry of Finance intends to use this week to continue the engagement that has started with civil society organizations and the Minority so that we can move for consideration next week.”